East Devon Catchment Partnership East Devon Rural Diffuse Pollution

East Devon Catchment Partnership East Devon Rural Diffuse Pollution Project Final Report 1 Purpose of report To review the methods, results and findings of the East Devon Rural Diffuse Pollution Project, May 2015 – March 2016. This project was commissioned by the East Devon Catchment Partnership through an Environment Agency Catchment Partnership Action Fund (CPAF) grant. The project delivery and reporting was overseen by Devon Wildlife Trust. Report compiled by Chantal Brown (Chantal Brown Consulting), with contributions and additions from other members of the East Devon Catchment Partnership involved in the project. All photographs © Environment Agency. [email protected] 0777 8700 539 2 Contents Summary 1. Introduction 2. Method 3. Weather conditions 4. Results 4.1 Response from farmers to initial offer of advice 4.2 The land holdings visited and their characteristics 4.3 Issues, risks and recommendations discussed during farm visits 4.4 Awareness of farmers to pollution responsibilities and mitigation measures 4.5 Demonstrations of good practice 4.6 Identification of barriers to the uptake of environmental management and schemes 4.7 Details of workshop contributions 4.8 Response from farmers at end of second visit, and observations of impact of farm advice on farming practice 4.9 EA findings on sites visited for audit visits following advice 4.10 Results by land holding after all site visits, and analysis against risk 5. Discussion and recommendations 5.1 Awareness of maize pollution issues, responsibilities and alternatives among landowners 5.2 Advisory provision on maize and alternatives 5.3 Enforcement of the regulatory framework 5.4 Effectiveness of the project’s approach, and recommendations for follow-up 6. Annexes to report 6.1 Land holdings in agri-environment schemes 6.2 Breakdown of land holdings n the project by catchment 6.3 Overview of soils by catchment 6.4 Mapping of land holdings influenced 6.5 Example letters to landowners 6.6 Factsheets developed for the project 6.7 Project budget 3 Executive Summary Runoff from maize can cause serious diffuse pollution and contribute to localised flooding. Due to the scale of maize growing and potential impacts it is a priority issue for the East Devon Catchment Partnership. The East Devon Rural Diffuse Pollution Project provided consultancy advice to farmers in East Devon to reduce impacts from maize growing in 2015-16 and subsequent years. The project gives a ‘snapshot’ of the severity of the issue in east Devon. Methods The project identified 50 high risk farms across the East Devon catchments of the Otter, Axe and Clyst. Risk was identified by the Environment Agency (EA) based on numbers of dairy cows / cattle, land used for AD plants and history of pollution. Of the 50 farms, 44 were maize growers and 30 of these voluntarily engaged with the project. Farmers received an initial letter and phone call, followed by two visits (one farm office-based, one field-based). They were also sent two advisory letters and a series of farm maps identifying risk areas, runoff routes identified by LIDAR, mapping of specific recommendations and detailing soil types and their associated risk based on soil type, and a visual assessment evaluation. A series of maize ‘fact sheets’ developed by the East Devon Catchment Partnership were also given to farmers. Presentations were given about the project at four local Catchment Sensitive Farming events. This reached 71 farmers. Only a small proportion (7) of these farmers were from the initial list of 50 high risk farms. Results from advisory visits Advice was provided by Chantal Brown Consulting (CBC) on focused areas within farm holdings. The total area receiving detailed advice was 715 hectares. 77% of farms visited were dairy farms, with the majority of those remaining growing maize for anaerobic digestors. 50% of the farmers visited had received funding from the Catchment Sensitive Farming scheme and 23% were in Entry Level Stewardship. Maize harvest was delayed on all farms due to an unseasonally cold and wet August (240% of the long term average monthly rainfall fell in East Devon). Advice could not be given on choice of maize varieties as the project was delivered in the two months prior to harvest when crops had been already planted. It was found that 69% of the maize crops being grown were not ‘very early’ harvesting varieties (Maize Growers Association ripening score of 10 or more). Most farmers were growing early varieties (scores of 8 or 9). The field assessment during site visits found that 27 farms were growing maize in a field that was categorized as high or very high risk, when scored for size, slope, soil type, environmental features and compaction. Risks identified in the field were run-off, pollution, compaction, erosion, water- logging, and mud on roads. A detailed analysis was also carried out using soil maps provided by Cranfield University that determined risks based on Soil Association types approximately found on holdings. This data showed that: less than 19% of the land used for maize production was (naturally) freely drained and therefore likely to be suitable for harvesting during the Autumn without damaging the soil over 93% of the land used was at high risk of run-off nearly 60% of land used for maize production was at risk of erosion and gullying on slopes over 50% of maize land had a high risk of slurry pollution The awareness from farmers about the financial risks of failing to meet new cross compliance requirements on dealing with soil erosion, and the legislative implications of causing a pollution incident from soil runoff was very low. 4 Almost half of the farms visited had made efforts at crop establishment stage to plan for an early harvest, for example, by using early varieties or by growing under plastic, and 69% had made efforts at crop establishment stage to reduce run–off by drilling across the slope or provision of buffer strips. All except one farm carried out some post-harvest work on some of their maize land, and 59% of farms had effective mitigation measures when surveyed at the start of winter. A common mitigation measure was cultivating strips or establishing a following crop. There were only three farms that had examples of good practice with a relatively early maize harvest, and where the following crop had been established in dry conditions resulting in soil that was not compacted. Results from field survey audits EA carried out field survey audits during heavy rainfall between mid-January and early March 2016 on 27 farms. EA staff found that: 63% of farms (19 in total) had ineffective mitigation measures causing soil runoff which was found to be entering watercourses 19% of farms (5 in total) had a serious impact on watercourses (defined by the EA as Category 2 water incident) run-off was found on all of the 27 farms audited but not all of this was found to be entering watercourses at the time of the visit pollution caused from slurry was entering watercourses on 30% of farms (8 in total) The main cause of the widespread runoff found was due to the late maize harvest. This meant that cultivation of maize stubble and establishment of grass and following crops was not carried out in suitable conditions. Much of East Devon has land that is at high risk of runoff, and so late harvest inevitably results in runoff problems. Although serious runoff problems were found, the EA have taken an advisory and warning approach in the first instance with farmers who have voluntarily engaged, albeit within a formal regulatory framework. Further enforcement action will be considered should serious runoff problems continue. Discussion and recommendations This project has provided a ‘snapshot’ of the widespread and serious runoff problem from farms in east Devon, resulting from a combination of bad weather and growing maize on high risk land with a low level of farmer awareness of legal responsibilities and techniques to prevent runoff and pollution. The project has gone some way to provide constructive and practical advice to the farmers involved; however, significant effort is required in the future to address the issues identified. Recommendations from the project include: Farming representatives and advisory organisations need to raise farmer awareness in East Devon regarding best practice in growing maize Advisory provision for maize growers in East Devon should be adequately resourced Existing land use advisors should undertake in-depth training on maize and pollution issues The farming sector itself should actively provide advice about the pollution risks from maize growing and the mitigation required The EA should consider more effective ways to communicate and engage with farmers on high risk farms Targeted follow-up visits should be carried out in 2016 on all farms advised during the project This project has successfully engaged with hard-to-reach landowners. It should be considered as an effective model to tackle diffuse pollution from agriculture in high risk areas. 5 1. Introduction The East Devon Rural Diffuse Pollution Project was a one-year initiative aimed at reducing the diffuse pollution arising from rural land use, in particular the growing of maize, in the East Devon river catchments of Clyst, Axe and Otter. It was funded through the Environment Agency Catchment Partnership Action Fund (CPAF). This supports Catchment Partnerships to tackle issues which are preventing achievement of Water Framework Directive objectives which have been identified by the partnership. The East Devon Catchment Partnership The East Devon Catchment Partnership covers the catchments of the river Exe, Clyst, Culm, Creedy, Sid, Otter, Lim and Axe river systems. The aim of the Partnership is to bring together a wide range of stakeholders, and engage local communities, to secure better outcomes for the East Devon river catchments and their associated environments.

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